Up the Staircase: Jillian Parker

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Somewhere in the Silence

Somewhere in the silence, like a
remnant of silk in a clenched fist,
my cicada wings buzzed, my
moth brain burned.

I thought I could fly
to the sound of your name,
but my toes grew roots with tendrils,
and the moon frowned in disapproval.

I opened my mouth to scream,
when out came the buzz of a mosquito.

A minor annoyance, or so I thought.
Then every time I opened my jaw,
out popped a hiss or hum or murmur or purr,
and soon I was swarmed with sounds.

If I could reach with a net and catch these things,
these whispers, this whirring, these words,
if I could lasso a cluster of them altogether,
would they spell your name, in hieroglyphics?

Or would they tell me of my negligence.
That I am burning the food of the poor,
while I sit and enjoy my leisure?

The thought stings me back to
the symmetry of the moon,
and her silence.

©Jillian Parker

Jillian Parker is an autism activist, fierce friend, mother of five, Russian-English translator, pouring poetry and prose from her wounds onto the page in beautiful Alaska.